Dishwashing apparatus



June 23, w R ADAMS DISHWASHING APPARATUS Filed June 3, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 2 kmmw BY a ilmm,

. TTORNEYS Patented June 23, 19 42 o UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEmsHwAsmNc APPAnA'rUs William R. Adams, San Francisco, Calif. ApplicationJune 8, 1941, serial No. 896,883

(cl. zas- 95).

14 Claims.

This invention' relates to dishwashing machines. l

An object of the invention is to provide a water circulating apparatuson one of the vertical side walls of a conventional tank,-in-which tankwater and dishes are to be placed, and which apparatus is so, arranged4and constructed as to withdraw water within said tank from the botvltomportion thereof throughsaid wall, and to move and conduct such waterupwardly over; the

outer side of said wall lin a conduit, one wall of which is said. sidewall and the remaining walls.

of. which is an un-cored channel member, and to then eject the water somoved back into the tank at a point spacedabove the bottom.

Another object is to provide a water circulating apparatus on avertlcalside wall of a tank, in whichV water and dishes are to beplaced, and which apparatus includes an electric motor, and an impellerdriven thereby, and an open sided, un-cored, channel-like member, alladapted to beremovably secured as a unit to said side wall in a positionin which the said member cooperates with said side wall to` form avertic'ally extendin'g conduit outside said side wall that communicates'my circulating device that is outside the'water tank as seen from theinside of said element that is next to 'the tank.

at its upper and lower ends with the interior of the tank throughvertically spaced openings in said side wall, and through the lower ofwhich openings the said impeller is adapted to be moved Fig. 6 is afragmentary sectional view of a modified form of water defiectorin mydevice.

This invention is an improvement of my dishwshing machine shown in myUnited States Letters Patent iNo. 2.205,113 dated June 18, 1940, whereinthe major portion of the apparatusfor circulating the water in a tankwas disposed within the tank.

Heretofore various other apparatus has been designed' to be installedwithin a tank forv circulating the water in much the same manner as inthe present invention, but in practically every instance the conduit inthe apparatus 'through 'which the water is circulated is a core in ahousing in which the entire. housing including the intake anddischargenozzle'is within the tank, and the motor is outside the tankwith a stumng box in` the wall of the tank for the motor shaft.

v Thus, any screens, or desirabie water defiectors Another object is animproved construction for i more. efliciently circulating the waterwithin a dishwashing tank for washing the dishes in said tank, thanheretofore.

A still further object is dishwashing apparatus that is more compact,and more economical to make and install than heretofore. andtheseveralmajor parts of which may be removed from a dishwashing tankindependently of each other,

and which apparatus provides for greater dish capacity in a tank thanheretofore.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the specification anddrawings.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a verticalectional view taken through 1' that may be used inconnection with these prior devices would project still further into thevaluable space within the tank, decreasing the capacity of the latter.Cored housings are objectionable due to their relatively high cost anduncertaint'y of uniformity in the core. Also in most prior attempts,`construction has been adopted that make it impossible to remove themotor, with the impeller as a unit from outside the tank, withouteither, removing the stuiling box or detaching the vother elements ofthe appara-tus that may be inside the tank, which latter elementsseldom, if ever, require removal.

the housing.

With my device, the above objections are overcome, since the impellerand motor are remov-. able, together with the stumng box, as a unit fromoutside the tank, without removing the'deflector or impeller ca'geandlscreen from within v Other details, such as a waterflow 'control meansinsuring an even ejection of water into the tank, and a swinging scre'enon the impeller cage, are important features in my dishwashingapparatus, as will' be hereinafter described in' detail.

In detail, the dishwashing tank itself, illusposed side walls, one wallI, of which, carries my water circulator and deflector. The tank has abottom 2, and may or may not have a top.

The wall I, centrally between the adjacent side walls, is formed with arelatively large circular opening 3 adjacent the bottom, and arelatively long, horizontally extending opening 4 spaced above opening3. This upper opening 4 ordinarily extends the major distance betweenthe side walls of the tank that are adjacent wall I.

The opening 3 will be termed the inlet opening, since water within thetank is forced through this opening to outside the wall I, while opening4 will be termed the outlet opening, since the water forced throughopening 3 is ejected back into the tank through opening 4. A conduitoutside wall I conducts the water upwardly 'from inlet '3 to outlet 4,hence the inlet 3 is the inlet to said conduit and outlet 4 is theoutlet from the conduit.

Said conduit, as illustrated, comprises` a body member cast or stampedfrom metal, (preferably cast)I to provide a flat, vertical wall 8, whenin normal position (Fig. 5), which wall is disposed parallel With thewall I of the tank and spaced outwardly of the outer side of said wall.This plate is generally triangular in shape with the base edge uppermostand horizontal and the apex rounded to conform in curvature to the curveof the lower opening 3 in said wall. The upper edge of plate 6 isprovided with an extension 'I that extends slantingly toward wall I andover the upper opening 4 in said wall. A fiange 8 extends from the otheredges of plate 6, perpendicularly thereto; toward wall I anda planarfiange 9 extends outwardly of fiange 8 and extension 'I, which latterflange is parallel with wall I and is adapted to be secured tightly tosaid wall by bolts I0 extending through registering openings therein andin wall I. A gasket II is disposed between said fiange 9 and wall I toprevent leakage of water. A bale I2 is integrally connected with plate 6and extends at right angles thereto between said plate and wall I. Thisbaffle is elongated and is at one side ofa Vertical mediall linebisecting plate 8 and extends at a slight incline diagonally upwardlyrelative to such medial line, as best indicated in Fig. 3.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the wall 6 andflanges 8 and extension 'I, together with the wall I of the tank, form aconduit vC outside the wall I of progressively increased, horizontalwidth in the plane of wall I from inlet -3 to outlet 4.

The wall 8 is formed with an opening coaxial with opening 3, throughwhich horizontal drive shaft I3 of a motor I4 extends, a packing glandI5 being provided in the said opening in wall 6 for said shaft; Abracket IG, preferably formed integrally with wall 6, carries said motorI4.

The drive shaft I3 extends through the opening 3 into the dishwashingtank and is provided at its outer 'end with an impeller, or propeller,I'I. Thus upon rotating the impeller I'I in a clockwisedirection, asseen in Fig. 3 the water in the tank will be drawn through opening 3into the conduit C and will be ejected through outlet 4 back into thetank.

The tendency of the impeller is to throw the major portion of the waterin conduit C to the right hand side of said conduit (Fig. 3) but thebal'fle I2 prevents this, by being in a position to conduct the water insaid conduit uniformly to all points along outlet 4. The baflle is,therefore, highly important to'the successful operation of the'dishwashing machine of the type herein described.

Within the dishwashing tank, I provide a vertically disposed plate I8,which plate is bolted to wall I independently of the plate 6, by boltsI9. This plate I8 carries a cylindricaLvvertically disposed ring 20 atits lower end within which thr' impeller I'I is positioned. Thevimpeller is just inside the wall I, and thus the ring, whi 'i is onlyslightly wider than the impeller, is disposed practically adjacent wallI. v

The plate IB at its lower end is of a horizontal width substantially thediameter of ring 20, but at a level just above said ring, it is formedWith a substantially wider portion 2I carrying at'its ends horizontallyspaced ears 22 formed with coaxial openings for bolts 23 that extendthrough said ears and through the registering openings in cars 24 thatextend upwardly from a perforated screen member adapted to be suspendedfrom said bolts over the open inner end of ring 20.

This screen member comprises a Vertical, rectangular, perforated plate24' that extends over the inner end of ring 20 to about the bottom 2 ofthe tank, and which plate extends laterally a substantial distancepast,opposite sides of ring 20. An upper, horizontally disposed,imperforate plate 25 formed integrally with the perforated plate 24',extends to portion 2| above ring 20, and carries the ears 24 throughwhich bolts 23 extend. Side plates 26 extend from the lateral edges ofplate 24' to the wall I of the tank and to the lateral edges of plate25. The total area of the holes 2'I in plate 24' is at least equal tothe cross-sectional area enclosed by ring 20, but preferably greater,thus insuring a full flow of water through the ring 20 equal to thecapacity of the impeller to draw water through the ring and opening 3,allowing for the normal resistance to flow through openings 21. To clearthe impeller of any obstruction, the plate 24' together with side plates28 and top plate 25, may be manually swung upwardly onI bolts 23, andwill then fall by gravity to its position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thusscreen is carried with plate I8'as a unit, but can be removedl fromplate I8, if desired, without removing said latter plate.

The upper margin 28 of plate I8 is slanted from the lower edge ofopening 4 into the water tank at an angle so it will parallel theportion 'I of the plate 6 that is outside the tank.

Parallel end pieces 28 at the ends of margin 28 close the space betweenthe tank wall I and the margin 28.

It will be seen that portion 1 and margin 28 thuscooperate to form anupwardly inclined, horizontally elongated continuation of conduit C thatwill direct water forced upwardly in conduit C into, the tank in anupward direction. The margin 28 is not absolutely necessary, but isdesirabvle, since the portion 'I of plate 6 which is outside the tank,functions to defiect the water in about the same mannerv as the waterwould be deflected in the absence of margin 28, but said margin tends tohold the water so deflected in a more concentrated stream.

Above plate I0 andabove the level of opening 4 is a generallyhorizontally disposed defiecter plate 30 formed with a flange 3Iextending upwardly from its edge adjacent tank wall I. This 'flange isprovided with openings for bolts 32 that l of flanges 33, and which finsextend transversely ofthe plate 30.

The most important of these fins are-'those designated-M, (F'ig. 4) thatare about equally space'd from each other and from flanges 33. Thesefins extend slightly convergently from wall I of the tank in directiontransversely of plate 30, and function to cause the desired distributionof the water ejected through outlet 4 into the tank, since it is highlydesirable that there be a relatively strong flow of water into the tankcentrally thereof between the ends of outlet l4.

About equally'spaced between each fin 34 and the' fiange 33adjacentthereto is' another fin 35,

similar to fins 34. The fins 35 may be about i parallel with a Verticalplane at right angles to plate |8, or 30, bisecting the latter, while acentral fin 36 in said plane may be provided between fins 34. able thatfins 35 extend slightly divergently from their ends adjacent wall I, butgood results are obtainable in all instances where these fins areparallel.

Betweenthe end edges of flanges 33 and 34", 35, 33 and wall I of thetank,- and positioned above opening 4 between plate 30 and the upperedge ofsaid opening, is a horizontally extending guide strip 31 that issubstantially triangular in cross-section with one side integrallyjoined to' plate `30, and a second side against wall I, or'a gasket thatis between wall ,I and said side, and the third side' is in upwardcontinuation of the side of portion 'I on plate Ii, so that waterpassing over the inner side Of portion 1 will be guided into the openrear ends of the channels formed by the fianges 33, and fins 34 to33,,for guiding between said flanges and fins into the tank in directionso as to cause a generally fan shaped stream of substantially uniformvolume at any point therealong, to be ejected into the tank from conduitC.

The normal water level in the tank,

edges of fins 34 to 33 and below the plate 30, al-

though 'it may be atabout the level of plate 30 for oi'dinarydishwashing. is preferably above thel lower trening the water, withoutsacrifice of space for the dishes; Suchcontrol cannot be adequatelyobtained, together with the advantages of assembly provided by mystructurefiwhere. a cored conduitis disposed withinthe tank, `lto'circulate the water, and where removal of the'motor results in everyelement of the circulating apparatus being freed from' the tank. Also,an eflicient and proper seal for'the drive shaft of the motor isdiificult and not as satisfactory, where the. packing gland passesthrough the relatively thin wall of the tank, and most dishwashing tankshave walls of galvanized sheet metal or the like, which. isamplyladequate to support elements 'if secured thereto at relativelywidely spaced points, as in my 'invention In Fig. 6, I show'a modifledform of deilector i plate corresponding'in function to plate 30',

which plateV has depending fins a34' to' and fianges 33' correspondingto these previously described.

Instead of securing this plate rigidly to wall I I of the tank, I securevertically extending,v horifzontally spaced angle strips to wall I'andpivot In some instances it is prefer-v scribed as formed therewith, maybe installed or I out disturbing the packing gland IS, and the The fact'that eonduit C is 'outside wall I, en-

. propeller Il, and without disturbing plates 33. I3

'or the screen carried on the latter.

able propeller Il to be within the tank almost in the plane of -saidwall, thereby permitting structure, such as', plate 30, and screen 24 tobe adequately formed within the tank for properly conplate 30'adjace'nt'its end edges to said strips by bolts 4| extending through oneof the fianges of said strips and coaxial openings in ears 42 thatextend upwardly from plate 30' adjacent wall I. The strip 31' Fig. 6)that corresponds in its function to strip 31, is separate from plate 30and is secured to the wall I of the tank in any suitable manner by bolts43 or by welding. Thus upon loosening the nuts on bolts 4|, the plate30' with'its fins 33' .and fianges 34' to 36' .carried thereon, may beswung to any degree of inclinativon relative to wall I. and' thensecured rigid in adjusted position by tightening'said nuts.

The lower ends of the angle strip 40 extend a With the above structure,'the marginaiportion 23 may or may not be provided. i

In operation, the apparatus hereinbefdrezdescribed insures an even,l`strong, andf,relati'velyv` high volume flow of water through Outlet .4,into'v ,the,tank, and so' distributes the fiowin the tank as toeffeetivly clean diet-es m the letter that 'may be positioned anywherebetween the e'p-fi posed walls adjacent wall I, and this result is'accomplished with relatively low power and without complicated movingor stationaryparts,

or structure involving cored castings, and the' I lmaximum capacity ofthe tank for dihes is maintained.

1 Also, as will be seen in` Fig. 1 the interior of vthe tank can lbekept very clean, since-'the ring '20 isspaced above bottom 2 of thetank, and platejil is. tightly sealed against wall I edges byv'spaced'bolts I9, whilein those instances hereto- .fore where cored.castings are ,supported in the i tank, either by part lof the packinggland around v the motor shaftor by a `projection from a cored housingeiitending outwardly through the tank,

the dirt, grease, etc., will accumulate between such hous'ing and thetank wall. z.

The removal of plate IB, with ring 20, and' deflector 30, from the wallI. independently of plate 3 and the motdr, finds its greatestconvenience where different sized rings 2Ilvmay be substituted `forcorrespondin'gly 'siz'ed propellers, or where different width deflectorsmay be installed independently of either plate or plate I8.l Any.desired combination of elements for a 'particular job may be obtainedwith my construction without necessitating an entirely new unit, as hasheretofore been necessary. A deflector 30 of increased length and havingproportionally similar spacing between flns, will produce a widerdistribution of water thanthat shown, without altering any of the otherelements and Without removal of the other elements from the tank. i

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a dishwashing tank, for water and dishes, having side walls and abottom wall; a generally vertically extending conduit outside said tank,one of the walls of which conduit comprises one of said side walls; aninlet at the lower end of said conduit, and an outlet at the upper endof said conduit respectively formed in said one of said side walls andcommunicating between the interior of said tank and said conduit; avertilcally disposedpropeller within said tank adjacent said inlet andcoaxial therewith for moving water from the tank through said'conduitfrom the said inlet to said outlet; and a motor outside said tank andsaid conduit connected with said propeller for rotati'ng the same tocause said movement of said water.

2. In a dishwashing tank, for water and dishes,

having side walls and a bottom wall; a generally vertically extendingconduit outside one side wall of said tank, one of the walls of whichconduit compi'ises said side wall; a circular inlet at the lower end ofsaid conduit, and a horizontally elongated outlet at the upper end ofsaid conduit, respectively formed in said side wall and communicatingbetween the interior of said tank and the upper and lower ends of saidconduit; a verticaily disposed propeller within said tank adjacent saidinlet and coaxial therewith for moving water from said tank through saidconduit from said inlet to said outlet; means outside said conduit' forrotating said propeller to cause said movement; and means within saidconduit for guiding the water so moved through said conduit insubstantially equal volumes to various points along said outlet. g

3. In a construction as defined in claim 2, said last mentioned meanscomprising a partition unequally separating said conduit into separatepassageways each communicating at its opposite ends with said inlet andoutlet.

4. In a construction as defined in claim 2, the said tank beingrectangular and the said outlet extending the major distance between theopposed walls adjacent said one wall.

5. In a construction as defined in claim 2, means within said 'tankforming a continuation of said conduit at the upper end of the latterand extending into said tank in an upwardly extending direction; and adeflector plate carried by said one wall extending over saidcontinuation of said conduit and inwardly therefrom into said tank andpositioned to 4deflect the water ejected from said continuationdownwardly.

6. In a dishwashing tank for water 'and dishes, having side walls and abottom wall; a generally vertically extending conduit outside one sidewall of said tank, one of the walls of which conduit 'comprises saidside wall; and inlet at the lower end of said conduit adjacent saidbottom wall, and an outlet at the upper end of said conduit.respectively formed in said side wall and communicating between theinterior of said tank and said conduit; the -upper end of the wall ofsaid conduit disposed outwardly of said' side wall being inclineddownwardly and outwardly from the upper edge of said outlet fordirecting water slantingly upwardly through said outlet into said tankand means within said tank arranged and adapted to defiect the water, sodirected, generally downwardly in said tank;` a propelleradiacent saidinlet arranged and adapted to move the water in said tank through saidconduit to said outlet; .and a motor outside said conduit for rotatingsaid propeller for causing said movement.

7. In a construction as defined in claim 6, said inlet being circular,and a cylindrical ring within said tank secured to said side wall withinwhich said propeller is positioned; said ring and circular inlet beingcoaxial, and said outlet'being horizontally elongated.

8. In a construction as defined in claim 6, the remaining walls of saidconduit being integrally formed as a unit; means removably securing saidremaining walls to said one Vside wall; means carried by said remainingwalls supporting said motor as a unit therewith for removal of the saidremaining walls and motor from said sidewall as a unit; said inlet beingof greater diameter than said propeller, and a drive shaft on said motorto one end of which said propeller is secured, whereby upon removal ofsaid conduit and motor from said side wall, the said propeller will'becarried through said inlet with the motor from interference by said sidewall.

9. In a water circulating device for a dishwashing tank that has agenerally vertical, lateral side wall formed with a pair of verticallyspaced openings therein, a body member formed with a single, outwardlyopening recess in one of the sides thereof, the free edges of the sidesof said recess being disposed in a common plane to t against the outersurface of such lateral side wall outwardly of such pair of openings,the shape of the open side of said recess being generally that of anequilateral triangle when viewed from said open side with one of thesides of said recess defining the base of such triangle and with the tworemaining sides extending con- 4 vergently to joining' relation at apoint opposite 1' said base to define the remaining sides of saidtriangle, the bottom of said recess being formed with an openingadjacent the convergent ends of said remaining sides adapted torotatably pass an impeller shaft therethrough, andm'eans for securingsaid'body member to such lateral side Wall with its open side directedtoward such lateral side wall and with the side of said recess definingsaid base uppermost relative to the said remaining sides.

10. In a construction as defined in claim 9, the side of said recessdefining said base extending slantingly outwardly from the bottom ofsaid recess to the free edge of said last mentioned side. and theadjoining end portlons'of said remaining sides of said recess beingsubstantially concentric with said opening for said shaft.

11. In a construction as defined in claim 9, the bottom of said recesshaving a rib projecting therefrom into said recess, said rib extendingalong said bottom generally radialiy relative to the axis of theopeningfor said shaft. and the outer edge of said rib terminatingsubstantially at the common plane in which the free edges of the sidesof said recess are disposed.

12. A dishwater including a tank having a generally Vertical, lateralside wall, a water circulating device for water in such tank comprising;a body member secured to said lateral side wall and projecting outwardlytherefrom rela` tive to the inside of said tank, said body member beingformed with a recess in the side thereof facing said tank with the edgesof said recess being substantially co-planar with said lateral sidewall, and the outline of said recess as defined by said edges thereofandby its sides extending from said edges .being generaliy that of anequilateral triangle having its base upper- .most and generallyhorizontal and with the two other sides extending convergentlydownwardly;

an opening formed in the bottom of said recess' adjacent the convergent.ends o! the downwardly extending sid`es thereof; a substantiallyhorizon= tal impeller shaft rotatabiy extending 'through said openinghaving an impeller secured .thereon adjacent the side o! said bottomthat 'faces said laterai side wall; said lateral side' wall being formedwith an inlet and an outiet respectiveiy communicating between theinterior of said tank and the lower and upper ends -of said /rccess forpassing water in said tank into and out of said recess when saidimpeller shaft is rotated in' a direction to cause the impeller thereonto move water in the tank through said inlet; and means for so rotatingsaid impeller.

cess along said`upper side, and the. convergent end portions o! the two.remaining sides of said recess being 'curved toward each other .tomeeting relation along a line concentric with the said opening in thebottom o! said reoess.z

14. In a construction as dened in ciaim 12, a. rib on the bottom of saidreeess projecting toward said lateral side wall and extending on saidbottom in a direction generally radially relative to the said opening inthe 'bottom of said recess and outer edge of said 'rib terminatingsubstantially at the common plane in which the edges of said recess aredisposed.

wlLmAM a. ADMs.

